KATHMANDU: Local authorities in a village in Nepal registered the
Himalayan
nation’s first same-sex marriage on Wednesday, officials and activists said, five months after the
Supreme Court
issued an interim order clearing the way for such marriages in the largely conservative country.
The marriage between 36-year-old
Ram Bahadur
(Maya)
Gurung
, who was born male but identifies as female, and
Surendra Pandey
, 26, who was born and identifies as male, was formally registered at the Dordi rural municipality office in the Lumjung district, an official said.
“We are both very happy,” Pandey said in a phone interview. The couple have been in a relationship for nine years and got married according to Hindu rituals in 2016.
“We have issued the marriage registration certificate to the couple in consideration of the SC order and instructions from relevant government authorities,” said
Hem Raj Kafle
, chief administrative officer of the Dordi municipality.
Taiwan is the only other country to legalise same-sex marriage in
Asia
.
